


Eclipse

by Meicdon13



Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Future Fic, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Moving On, One-Sided Relationship, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-27
Updated: 2013-03-18
Packaged: 2018-01-25 18:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 14,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1657826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meicdon13/pseuds/Meicdon13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During the course of recollecting all the sutras, Sanzo’s reincarnation comes across someone from the past. Kougaiji is determined to be of use, even if his help isn’t wanted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One: Divine Intervention

**Author's Note:**

> The fanfic itself is meant to be set in the year 21xx—feel free to insert the last two digits as you see fit.
> 
> All the Chinese names are either nabbed either from the Internet or from mls_addxn. Same goes with the honorifics and stuff.
> 
> Chen ('preserved for a long time') Jinhai ('golden sea') – Sanzo's reincarnation  
> Allen Bomber – Kenren's reincarnation  
> Richard "Rick" Fenway – Tenpou's reincarnation  
> Guang Long ('bright dragon') – Homura's reincarnation  
> Wei – Shien's reincarnation
> 
> "-ge" or "-gege" is the Chinese equivalent for "-niisan"  
> "-xian sheng" is the Chinese equivalent for "-san"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While on duty, Jinhai meets an old friend of a past incarnation.

“You know, it’s _really_ handy that I can reach you on this.” The voice crackled over the line, crystal clear, as if an indefinable amount of distance didn’t separate him from the woman on the other end of the line. “Teleporting to Earth nowadays is quite a hassle.”

“Can you get to the point?” he snapped, tightening his grip on his umbrella as another gust of wind blew past him. Rain fell against the pavement, droplets of water splashing his pants leg.

“Dear Konzen, you’re still such an impatient man.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? My name is Jinhai.”

A laugh. He felt like throwing the cell phone against a hard surface. “You have no idea how well that name suits you.”

After a few moment of silence, he snapped, “I haven’t got all day. Got something important you need to say?”

“Actually, I don’t have anything to tell you. Can’t I check up on my favorite employee from time to time without needing a reason to?”

“Employee implies that I get paid for the shit I go through.”

Kanzeon Bosatsu laughed. In the background, Jinhai heard another voice interrupting her. There was a short, whispered conversation before she spoke into the phone again. “Alas, Jiroushin informs me I have important matters to attend to. Do be careful, darling.” The line died before Jinhai could say anything.

“Stupid fucking deity,” he muttered before he pressed the ‘End’ button on his phone and stowed it away in his pants pocket. He used his free hand to hold his trench coat tighter around himself.

By the time he found the church, he was soaking wet and his umbrella had turned inside-out. Muttering curses about useless Heavenly beings who gave useless directions, he shook his head, scattering droplets of water around him. He tossed his umbrella to one side and took off his coat, bunching it up and holding it in one hand. It dripped steadily onto the stone floor. The church was a really old one, dating back more than a hundred years.

Jinhai’s first impression was that the church was empty. However, a sneeze from somewhere near the front pews proved him wrong. A middle-aged redhead was sitting there, his clothes wet as well, though not as thoroughly drenched as Jinhai’s—he’d probably entered the church before the downpour outside showed its fangs.

 _I can’t do my searching with him in here._ Jinhai frowned, his eyes narrowing in annoyance as he tried to think of a way to get rid of the stranger. After a few minutes, he had an idea. Clearing his throat loudly, he walked up to the front.

Jinhai stood beside the stranger and flashed his badge. “Excuse me, sir. But the church is closed today.” Being a police officer had its perks, and Jinhai wasn’t above using his advantages when he had them.

“Sorry?” The redhead looked up at him. A sudden, nagging feeling appeared at the back of Jinhai’s mind, but he shoved it to one side and concentrated on his acting.

“I said, the church is closed today,” Jinhai repeated. “They’re going to restore the interior later, and people aren’t allowed inside.”

“I’m sorry,” the man replied. “But I’m just praying. Surely I can stay a few more minutes?” A small earring glinted in the dim light from the light fixtures about them.

Jinhai brushed a few strands of hair out of his eyes. “Can you make it quick? The people who’re going to do the restoration are about to arrive.”

The redhead opened his mouth to say something when his eyes suddenly widened. He tilted his head and peered at Jinhai’s face. There was a moment of tense silence between them where Jinhai thought that the man would do something violent. Instead, the stranger simply shook his head, a wry smile appearing on his face. “Even your reincarnation is rude,” he said as he stood up.

Before Jinhai could respond, the man turned around and walked towards the exit.

“Weirdo,” he muttered as soon as the stranger was gone. He then began his search, looking for the sutra that was supposedly hidden away in the church’s altar. Thirty minutes of looking brought up nothing. Jinhai fought the urge to kick over the altar and shoot it full of holes.

“Still looking for the sutras, Sanzo?”

At the sound of the voice, Jinhai whirled around, his gun aimed at whoever had snuck up on him.

The redhead stood there, only this time his ears were long and pointed. _Youkai._

“My name’s not Sanzo,” Jinhai replied. “And who said I was looking for a sutra?”

“Your gun looks almost exactly the same as the old one,” the redhead said evenly, not answering the question. “Is it still a Smith and Wesson?”

Jinhai was getting even more unnerved as the conversation went on. How did this youkai know the brand of his gun?

“You really don’t remember me, do you?” the youkai continued. The look on his face was one of resignation and sadness. “What was I expecting? How long has it been? A millennium?”

Jinhai’s phone rang, startling him. The only calls it ever received were from Kanzen Bosatsu. Keeping an eye on the redhead, he pulled the phone out of his pocket and answered it.

“His name’s Kougaiji. He can help you,” she said the moment he pressed the phone to his ear.

“How the fuck do you know that?” Jinhai hissed, his gun and eyes still aimed at Kougaiji.

The only response he got was a steady beeping. Kanzeon had ended the call. Jinhai glared at the phone before stuffing it into his pocket, lowering the gun from where it was pointed at Kougaiji’s heart.

“The sutra was here roughly twenty years ago,” Kougaiji said when he saw the gun being holstered. “During a coup d’ etat, this church was one of the places the soldiers hid. One soldier found the sutra and pocketed it, thinking that he might get some money on the market for a ‘rare and valuable ancient scroll.’” Kougaiji sat down on the front pew again. “That’s all I know so far.”

Jinhai looked at him suspiciously, his purple eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms. “And how do you know all this?”

“I’m the youkai emperor. I’ve got connections in the highest and strangest places.” Kougaiji looked straight into Jinhai’s eyes. “I was Sanzo’s friend.”

Jinhai snorted. Youkai emperor? The youkai emperor was featured on the news often, but they had never aired a picture before, or given a name. What was the proof that Kougaiji was actually who he claimed to be? Then again, there was nothing to be gained by lying. And truth be told, Jinhai didn’t give a rat’s ass if Kougaiji really was the youkai emperor or just some random nut job with delusions of grandeur.

The muffled sound of the rain outside was the only thing that broke the silence in the old church. Jinhai was tired and he wanted to rest; he had been part of a raid yesterday and had gotten little sleep last night. He moved to sit on the pew across from Kougaiji’s.

“Sanzo hated the rain,” Kougaiji said softly.

“Well, I’m not Sanzo,” Jinhai snapped. “I’m Chen Jinhai. Not Sanzo, not Konzen. Jinhai.” He was tired of being called a variety of names. Names that belonged to people that weren’t him. “I may be his reincarnation, but he’s still a different person.”

“I’ve come across enough reincarnations to know that,” Kougaiji answered. “I was just saying that he hated the rain.” His neutral tone of voice should have been pissing Jinhai off, but it didn’t.

Silence again.

“Do you really remember nothing? Don’t you remember me?”

The tone of voice made Jinhai look at the youkai curiously. After a few moments, he asked, “Am I supposed to?”

Kougaiji smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “I suppose not.”


	2. Chapter Two: BFFs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kougaiji just wants to help. Jinhai is wary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompts for this chapter: “4. Angels and Devils; Disguise (~wings stain with blood)” from 30_angsts, “22. Resemblance” from 30_deathfics, both at LJ.

Jinhai looked at Kougaiji out of the corner of his eye. “What are you doing here?”

“An important matter requires my personal attention.”

Jinhai snorted, and Kougaiji decided to take that as a sign of amusement. Outside, the rain beat down stronger, and the temperature inside the stone church dropped a little more. Absentmindedly, he flicked his wrist and lit all the candles inside the church.

Jinhai’s hand moved a fraction towards his holstered gun, and he shot Kougaiji a wary look. Kougaiji laughed. 

“Didn’t you know I could do that?” he asked.

“The answer should be obvious, shouldn’t it?” Jinhai snapped.

Kougaiji laughed again, remembering the times when he had summoned Engokuki in front of Sanzo’s group. “That’s funny. Sanzo used—”

“I’m not Sanzo!”

The anger in Jinhai’s voice surprised him. He hadn’t expected the intensity of it or the glint in the purple eyes that glared at him from across the aisle. Jinhai had stood, his fists clenching and unclenching as if he were resisting the urge to draw his gun and shoot Kougaiji. His black hair ( _Sanzo had been a blond_ ) fell across his forehead, shadowing his narrowed eyes.

“That old hag keeps calling me ‘Konzen,’” Jinhai said, voice filled with an emotion that the youkai couldn’t identify, his body tensed as if he were preparing himself to attack. “You keep calling me ‘Sanzo.’ And I keep telling you to _stop that!_ Can’t people see that I’m not either of them? I’m _me_. Nobody else!”

Kougaiji was tempted to say, “You have the same temper as Sanzo,” but he didn’t think that Jinhai would appreciate that. Instead he kept his mouth shut and waited for Jinhai to calm down. He had forgotten how sensitive reincarnations could be when things turned towards their past lives. But this was a bit too much.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” Kougaiji asked softly after Jinhai had sat down again.

“Hn,” was the only response he got.

“Well?” Kougaiji knew he was prodding, but he still saw Jinhai as Sanzo, and Sanzo had been … important to him. A friend. He repeated that to himself again and again as he waited for a response, trying to ignore the stirring of long-buried feelings in him.

“Are you going to tell me that you’re a psychologist, too?” Jinhai finally said, the sarcasm evident in his voice.

Kougaiji sighed. “I’m asking as a concerned individual. I know you don’t want to hear this, but Sanzo was my friend, and I’d like to help you.”

The laughter that erupted from Jinhai was short and sharp. “Like hell you do.”

It hurt Kougaiji to hear how cynical Jinhai voice sounded. He looked young—around his mid-twenties; Sanzo had been barely twenty-four when they’d first met—and Kougaiji wondered what brought about that change in the human’s perspective.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to help you look for the sutras,” Kougaiji offered.

“Why?”

Kougaiji didn’t answer immediately. He asked himself the same question, wondered what he was hoping to achieve by helping out a human he had just met.

 _Why did I ask my men to look for the soldier who got the sutra from the altar?_ Kougaiji rubbed his suddenly sweaty palm against his slacks.

“Sanzo was my friend.”

“Is that your excuse for everything?” Jinhai asked. “‘Sanzo was my friend’?”

“Not for everything.”


	3. Chapter Three: Basic Military Protocol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allen manages to mix duty and pleasure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly for xcerpted—I owe her the appearance of what we like to call Rambo!Hakkai.

Location: Gobi Desert  
Date: 28 Mar 21xx  
Time: 0800

Allen gave the soldier a pat on the shoulder. “There—all done. You can go now.” He grinned and tried not to think about possibly seeing him again under bloodier circumstances.

“Should I send the next one in, doc?”

“Sure.”

The soldier stepped out of the medical tent and into the blistering afternoon heat. It was around thirty-nine degrees outside, and the heat made its way into the enclosure. Allen grimaced as he put away the soldier’s folder.

Behind him, he heard the tent flap open and close. “Can you activate the temperature locks?” Allen requested, not looking up from his files. “There’s a reason I stay in here and I’d rather not sweat like a pig if I don’t need to.”

“Should I activate the soundproof seals as well?”

At the sound of the familiar voice, Allen turned around and smiled. “Why? Think I’ll try and molest you during your physical?”

Rick removed his jacket and folded it carefully before placing it on a chair. He smiled back at the doctor. “Knowing you, yes.”

“Rick! You wound me deeply!” Allen fished out Rick’s file from the box where the folders were kept and flipped through the pages, his eyes scanning the text. When he was done reading, he placed the folder down on his nearby desk. “Let’s get started then, shall we?”

Rick took off his shirt and placed it on top of his jacket. “With the molestation?” He bent down and began unlacing his combat boot. “Shouldn’t you wait until I’m naked before doing anything?”

“You only need to strip down to your underwear, and I was talking about the physical examination, but if you insist …” Allen trailed off, midnight-blue eyes tracing over the play of muscle in Rick’s back. “You want help?” Without waiting for an answer, he reached around Rick’s waist and began opening his trousers.

He did it with practiced ease, and as the soldier straightened up, Allen pushed the material of his uniform down over his narrow hips. “This seems familiar,” Allen said, a grin on his face.

Rick laughed and wriggled out of Allen’s embrace, stepping out of his pants at the same time so that he was left in only his boxer-briefs. “Maybe later. Some of the guys are still outside waiting for their turn.”

Allen frowned as Rick sat down on the examination table. He grabbed the stethoscope from his table and put it on. He muttered under his breath about prudish soldiers before pressing the medical instrument against Rick’s back. “Breathe in,” he instructed the soldier.

When he was satisfied that there was nothing wrong with Rick’s lungs, he moved the stethoscope to Rick’s chest, listening to his heartbeat for a while.

Strange how soothing the sound of Rick’s heartbeat was. Allen lingered there a moment longer than necessary, just listening.

_“Kenren.”_

_“What?”_

_“You’re heavy.” A laugh. “Please get off me.”_

_“Don’t wanna. I like the sound of your heart.”_

_“What?”_

_“It tells me that you’re still alive.” He traced a hand along the bandages wrapped around Tenpou’s arm. Blood was seeping through the gauze and the general frowned. “You didn’t have to, you know. I could’ve led that last group.”_

_“Kenren.”_

_He rolled off of Tenpou and shifted, moving up so that he could lay his head on the pillow beside the field marshal. “Idiot,” he said before kissing Tenpou._

“—len?”

The redhead straightened up, running a hand through his short hair. “Hm?” He took off the stethoscope and placed it on his desk. The non-memory was still fading from his mind and he closed his eyes for a while.

“Allen? What’s wrong?” A hand landed on his shoulder, and Allen opened his eyes. Goosebumps had begun to appear on Rick’s skin from the tent’s temperature control. Allen ran his hand down Rick’s arm, rubbing it.

“You’re cold,” he said, amusement in his voice.

“Maybe you should warm me up,” Rick said evenly, but there was a mischievous twinkle in his green eyes.

“Nah, I should get on with the examination.” Allen gently pushed Rick’s shoulder until he was lying down. He ran his hands down the soldier’s thighs, fingers dragging lightly along the tanned skin. Allen applied a little more pressure and smiled when he heard Rick’s breath hitch.

“I thought you were going to continue with my physical.”

“I am. I’m just checking to see if you’ve got any sprained muscles or broken bones.”

Rick laughed. “Really.”

Allen’s hands moved up and stopped on wide shoulders. “Really,” he said, with an accompanying eyebrow wiggle before leaning down and capturing Rick’s mouth in a kiss.


	4. Flashback Sequence Numero Uno

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, way back when, Sanzo and Kougaiji hooked up. And are caught in the act.

Kougaiji wondered if the gods in heaven still harbored some sort of mild dislike for him thanks to his involvement in the entire Minus Wave incident, and whether this entire situation had been engineered by Kanzeon Bosatsu herself.

Barely five minutes had passed since he and Sanzo had stumbled into a storage room off the castle’s kitchens—mouths and hips pressed together, hands fumbling at zippers and buttons—when the door had opened to reveal a shocked Lirin and a furiously blushing Goku.

Of course the two had gotten hungry while Sanzo was busy sticking his tongue into Kougaiji’s mouth. Of course they’d decided to look for food themselves instead of asking one of the maids. And of course the door had opened at the exact moment Kougaiji had slipped a hand into the back pocket of Sanzo’s jeans to squeeze a handful of his ass.

“Iamsosorry,” Goku blurted out. He looked like he was about to combust. He grabbed a gawking Lirin, covered her wide eyes with one hand, and dragged her away, kicking the door shut behind him.

Kougaiji sighed in the darkness of the storage room. “Well, that killed the mood.”

“You think?” Sanzo snapped.


	5. Chapter Four: Thinking of Shifting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goku tries to find pieces of the past.

Location: Gobi Desert  
Date: 30 Mar 21xx  
Time: 1500

Goku squatted on the sand, a bandanna wrapped around his head and a lump of dirt in his hand. Carefully, he tapped the lump with a pick until it cracked. He continued chipping away little bits of the dirt until he exposed what looked like a piece of pottery.

“Professor, I found another one!” he shouted.

A middle-aged woman ran towards him and eagerly, but very carefully, took the pottery from Goku. “Excellent work, Goku!” she cried, eyes gleaming as she looked at the prize she cradled in her hands. “Isn’t this exciting? Think about it! A completely unknown city buried here in the Gobi desert, and we’ll be the very first people to unearth it, to see it after how many hundreds—maybe thousands—of years!”

Goku looked at his professor and scratched the back of his neck. Professor Huian easily got excited whenever she was working on something.

Goku stood up and stretched, removing his bandanna. The afternoon sunlight glinted off of his golden diadem, making his professor blink a few times as the reflected light shone right into her eyes.

“Oops. Sorry, professor,” he said sheepishly.

“No worries, no worries,” Professor Huian said, waving the hand that wasn’t holding the bit of pottery. “As I’ve said before, I like your diadem. It resembles the one that the mythical Seiten Taisei from the ancient stories wore.” She glanced up at him and smiled. “And think of it; if we unearth this city, we may be able to prove that he wasn’t mythical after all!”

“Professor!”

“Excuse me, Goku,” the woman said and hurried towards another student a few feet away.

“I’m not mythical,” Goku said softly to no one in particular. His smile was amused as he decided to take a break and go into his tent to rest.

As he lay in his cot, he thought about what exactly he was doing in this dig site. What he was trying to accomplish by helping unearth a city that supposedly had a temple in the middle. A temple that may or may not have one of the founding sutras of Heaven and Earth. Years that had been wasted in the pursuit of rumors led to this one moment.

 _Maybe nothing’s even there_ , he thought to himself, golden eyes focused on a shaft of light that filtered in through a small hole in the side of his tent. But there was something that made him stay, to continue posing as an archaeology student.

Goku closed his eyes and wondered what he’d do with the thing if he did find it. It wasn’t like he could use it, after all. And he knew that even if he did find all five, there was no way he could bring back the dead—bring back Sanzo and Gojyo and Hakkai and Hakuryuu—with them. He didn’t even think the gods were kind enough to make a trade.

A millennium of wandering, and the only thing that weighed down on his mind was five hundred years spent trapped in Mt. Gogyou. The reminder of the past before Sanzo had been a blessing and a curse, those five hundred years of loneliness following his life in Heaven, which were arguably the happiest days of his life.

He thought of Nataku and wondered if he was still comatose like Kanzeon Bosatsu had said he was when she’d restored his memory. That was the last time he’d seen the deity: the day she came down to Earth to congratulate them on a job well done and give them gifts.

Goku’s reminiscing was cut short when he heard someone calling for him. With a sigh, he stood up and walked out of his tent into the bright afternoon sunlight.


	6. Chapter Five: Backtrack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinhai goes to the temple to submit his report. Kougaiji and Lirin tag along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lakshanya means ‘one who achieves.’ I got the name off of the Internet and thought it would be an appropriate name for the character.
> 
> I realize that technically, Kougaiji and Lirin are from India, but it feels really weird to have Lirin call Kougaiji the Indian equivalent of “oniisan,” so I’ll be sticking with that. Also, I really do prefer Lirin’s colors (hair and eye colors) in the anime compared her colors in the manga so I’ll be going with that.

Jinhai and Kougaiji stood under the large ornate archway that decorated the front of the church. The rain was slowing down to a drizzle as Jinhai watched the youkai emperor make a call on his cell phone.

“Yes, _that_ big stone church … I know, you don’t have to remind me … What? Why is she—? Never mind. Just hurry up.” Kougaiji slid the phone shut and into his pocket, a slightly exasperated look on his face. “We’ll be sharing the car with someone.”

Jinhai shrugged, not really caring either way. He shifted his grip on his coat and umbrella, and tried not to tap his foot impatiently. He tried to ignore the way the fading afternoon sunlight slanted across Kougaiji’s features and kept his eyes peeled for a sign of a car.

When one finally pulled up to the front of the church, Jinhai had to blink a couple of times before he remembered that he was with the youkai _emperor_. Hard to do that when Kougaiji seemed so … nondescript.

The car that pulled up in front of them was black, sleek, and hovered five inches above the ground on the latest hovercraft technology. Soft blue light came from the suspensors installed in lieu of wheels. It wasn’t quite big enough to be called a limousine, but it seemed pretty roomy. Jinhai didn’t doubt that the tinted windows were bulletproof.

Jinhai expected the driver to hop out of the car and open the door for Kougaiji, but he reached out and opened it for himself, revealing a backseat that was all dark leather. A young youkai woman who looked like she was in her late twenties was sitting inside, looking at her PDA. Her bright orange hair contrasted with her black suit. She looked up when the door opened, and smiled. “Yo, ‘niisan.”

“Lirin,” the emperor replied, a smile on his face. He got in the car and settled down beside the woman. Jinhai followed suit and closed the door behind him, feeling an odd sense of finality at the dull click it made.

“Where to, sir?” the driver asked, not even turning around.

Kougaiji glanced at Jinhai. The policeman rolled his eyes and gave the driver the address. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Lirin looking at him curiously. Not feeling comfortable at all—what with Lirin practically staring at him and Kougaiji’s closeness—Jinhai crossed his arms and slouched back in his seat.

“‘Niisan,” Lirin said, “you’ve got a meeting later this evening.” She brandished her PDA in Kougaiji’s face. “And you can’t make Lakshanya go in your place again. The lords want to meet with _you_ , and they’ll be offended if you send a proxy. Even considering Lakshanya’s status.”

Kougaiji sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I know. But those meetings are completely boring.”

Lirin laughed. “Oh, how the tables have turned. Remember when you had to drag me to these things?”

Feeling decidedly left out, Jinhai watched the scenery flit past the windows. He wondered what he would tell his superiors when he arrived. He was supposed to be bringing back a sutra, not a member of youkai royalty.

“Oh, I forgot,” Kougaiji suddenly said, sitting up a bit straighter. “Jinhai, this is my younger sister, Lirin. Lirin, police officer Chen Jinhai.”

“Hi,” Lirin said cheerfully, reaching across her brother to offer her hand to Jinhai. “Nice to meet you, Chen-xian sheng.”

Jinhai mumbled a reply and didn’t bother shaking Lirin’s hand. Instead of being offended, Lirin snorted in amusement and sat back in her seat.

Something about her easy smile seemed to trigger something at the back of Jinhai’s mind. Ignoring the nagging feeling, he looked out the window again. He ended up staring at the back of the passenger seat while Kougaiji and Lirin talked.

“We’re here,” the driver said a few minutes later. The car came to a stop that Jinhai didn’t even feel, and he quickly opened the door and stepped out. Kougaiji followed and paused on the sidewalk, looking back at Lirin.

“I’ll just wait in the car, ‘niisan,” Lirin said, eyes riveted on whatever she was doing on her PDA.

“You’d better stay here too,” Jinhai told Kougaiji. “I’ll be back soon enough.” Kougaiji began to protest but Jinhai cut him off. “I don’t think the monks inside this temple would appreciate a youkai entering it.” Kougaiji shut his mouth and simply sent Jinhai a look before climbing back into the car and closing the door.

Jinhai walked up to the front of the building before of him and pressed the doorbell. It processed his fingerprint and there was an audible click as the front door was automatically unlocked. Jinhai opened it and entered the building, pausing just inside to let his eyes adjust to the bright fluorescent lights. The hall was made even brighter by the light reflecting off the steel walls.

Jinhai made his way towards the head monk’s office. He knocked on the door and waited for a response, crossing his arms in front of his chest. After a few minutes with no answer, he knocked again, tapping his foot impatiently.

“I see you’re back.”

A young man walked up to Jinhai, a smile on his face. He was wearing the traditional robes of a monk and held a sheaf of papers under one arm. “I wasn’t expecting you back until later this evening. Is everything all right?” He opened the door to his office and stepped inside. Jinhai followed and closed the door behind him.

“Everything’s fine, sir,” Jinhai replied evenly. “I just wanted to report that the sutra that was supposedly at the church wasn’t there.”

The head monk smiled sheepishly. “Actually, one of our people delivered it this morning.”

“What?”

“We received it this morning, right after you went off to look for it. It was with a retired soldier. We tried to contact you, but the rain was interfering with the commlink frequencies.” The monk shuffled the papers on his desk and added, “Sorry, Jinhai.”

“It’s okay, sir,” Jinhai said. “If there’s no other lead I need to follow up on …?”

“Actually, there is.” The monk beamed. “Computers picked up traces of spiritual energy somewhere to the northeast; I’m not sure where, but they should have the exact location on the info sheet. They believe that it may be another one of the sutras.”  
Jinhai nodded. “I’ll go check it out.”

“We’ll send in your copy to take over your work for you. This one may take some time.”

“Thank you, sir.” With one last bow, the head monk handed him a folder with needed details about the sutra and gave Jinhai a pat on the shoulder. Jinhai stepped outside the office and made his way back to the front of the building.

Kougaiji’s car sat idling on the street. The door to the backseat opened before Jinhai could reach it, and he got in without saying anything.

“Well?” Kougaiji asked. Lirin glanced up at him from her PDA, curiosity evident on her face.

“I’m going to the Gobi desert.”

* * *

The head monk turned on the security feed that linked up to his computer and watched as Jinhai got into a waiting car.

He smiled wistfully. Out of all the times their lives had crossed paths—including the one where he’d been blessed to have Jinhai as his own son—this was the one that reminded him most of Sanzo.

He never mentioned it to Jinhai, knowing that it would do nothing except anger him, but sometimes he wished that he could tell him _why_ they had such a strong bond.


	7. Chapter Six: It’s All in the Milk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part of the reason why the American military is in the Gobi desert is because of a stolen weapon.

Location: Gobi Desert  
Date: 1 Mar 21xx  
Time: 1000

Wei sat on the ground just inside the large tent where he was watching Guang Long go about being childish. Seventeen was too old to be acting like a brat, but it was also too young to be the leader of a group of terrorists. Wei didn’t know whether to scold Long or not. It was all so troublesome.

Right now, Long was arguing with some of the more strategic thinkers in their group while sitting in a small circle in the cramped tent. He wanted to go and ambush the American troops while they were transferring a nuke from one base to another. The others didn’t think it was wise. For a number of reasons that Long was ignoring.

Personally, Wei agreed with the latter though he didn’t dare voice his opinion in front of other people. Not because he was afraid that Long would get angry at being so openly opposed by his second, but because he didn’t want to embarrass Boss in front of others.

“Wei-ge! Back me up!” Gray eyes were focused on him, and though Long’s expression was neutral, they were beseeching. Wei couldn’t deny his leader anything he wanted. Even when it was something that Long was better without.

So Wei stood up, adjusted the gun holstered at his hip, and walked over to sit behind Long. The opposition died out pretty quickly after that.

By the time everyone had left, Long was smirking triumphantly. Wei sighed and resigned himself to somehow making Long’s plan work. “Boss Guang,” he began softly.

“Yes, Wei-ge? And don’t call me Boss Guang; it makes me feel old.”

For one moment, Wei seriously considered trying to talk Long out of his plan. After all, there were many other ways to keep China from going after them, and most of those plans would probably be easier than stealing a nuclear weapon to do it. Then all his resolve melted when Long tilted his head to one side as he looked at him, Long’s dark hair falling into his eyes.

“I want to suggest some plans of attack for the ambush,” Wei said evenly.

The reclamation of mainland China as their people’s homeland was a cause that Long’s father had dedicated his entire life to. And at his untimely demise a few years back, the leadership of their small group of terrorists had fallen to his only son. Wei had been Guang’s second, and now he was Long’s.

And he was also Long’s guardian.

Wei personally felt that Long should have just left the burden of leadership to him; after all, he was older and more experienced. He would have been better able to handle their small group. But Long had been completely adamant about carrying on his father’s fight.

It was that same fire in Long that made Wei want to protect him—something as pure as that was supposed to be cared for, not to be endangered in any way. There were times when Wei wanted to grab him and lock him in a room, safe from any harm that might befall him.

“Wei-ge!”

Wei snapped out of his reverie, his dark eyes going wide when he saw Long’s face mere inches from his. He’d probably zoned out on auto-pilot again and had gone on talking about plans while Long tried to get his attention.

“Sorry, Boss,” he said.

“Sometimes I’m not sure if you hear anything I say,” Long replied, frowning. “It’s as if I’m not worth paying attention to.”

“On the contrary, Boss. I’m always thinking of you.”

Location: Gobi Desert  
Date: 16 Mar 21xx  
Time: 1900

Long glanced at Wei from beneath his bangs, saw the scowl, and seriously considered saying that he was sorry. Well … to be honest, he wasn’t. They’d been successful; the nuke was hiding somewhere safe, and the only injury on their side was a wound on Long’s arm.  
It was obvious that Wei was furious. He finished cleaning and bandaging Long’s wound, tying the ends of the bandage together a little too tightly. Long winced but didn’t say anything, knowing that he would probably just aggravate his second.

“Boss—”

“‘ _Long_ ’.”

“ _Long_ ,” Wei said, frown still on his face. “You didn’t follow the plan.”

“I follow my instincts.” Long looked at his arm, testing to see if he could move it without feeling any pain. “Following the plan to the letter in the middle of that fight would have led to worse injuries.” He winced at the pull on the wound and quickly lowered his arm.

He knew he was in bigger trouble when Wei’s dark eyes narrowed. Crap. He’d seen the wince.

They spent the next hour holed up in Long’s tent, Wei berating him and explaining—”For the nth time, Long!”—how important it was that they follow the plan. Because the plan was there for a reason.

“Because it was made to be followed,” Long quoted listlessly as his second paused in his speech. It was a line that he’d often heard from Wei, and it was beginning to grate on his nerves. _The plan is a rule, and rules are meant to be broken_ , he thought to himself.  
Parroting Wei’s old sermons deprived him of his gaming consoles for a week.

So that he wouldn’t feel bad, Long comforted himself with the idea of the nuclear bomb resting somewhere in the Gobi desert.


	8. Chapter Seven: All Hail the King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinhai prepares for his departure. Kougaiji insists on going with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompts for this chapter: “2. Toys (~For when you die I’ll be there for you)” from 30_angsts, “12. Power” from san_kou, both at LJ.
> 
> In my headcanon, youkai do have longer life spans, but not that long; the only thing keeping Kougaiji and Lirin alive is the fact that they’re high-ranking youkai royalty, and thus have magical reserves that no one else has.

Kougaij wondered if Jinhai knew how creepy he looked at the moment.

They were in what served as the living room of Jinhai’s apartment, and the policeman was standing to one side of the room, his forehead pressed against that of his so-called copy. The latter’s eyes were open and blank. If Kougaiji squinted, he could see gray zeroes and ones scrolling down the pupils.

Beside him, Lirin was leafing through a book that had been lying on the coffee table in front of the couch they were sitting on. “Look, ‘niisan,” she said excitedly. “It’s a picture of you.”

Kougaiji looked at the open book. It was open to a page about the youkai king of ancient India and a picture of a full-color stylized painting took up half of one page. “Don’t I look a bit … _young_ in it?” he asked.

Lirin laughed. “You just got used to looking middle-aged.” She closed the book and put it back on top of the table. “Is this going to take any longer?” she asked Kougaiji. “We really have to go. You have to get ready for tonight’s meeting with the lords.”

“I just want to ask Jinhai something,” Kougaiji said. “Then we can go.”

“Okay.” Lirin promptly leaned forward and asked, “Chen-xian sheng, are you done?”

“Almost,” Jinhai replied shortly. After a minute, he stepped back from his copy. He raised an eyebrow at the two youkai on his couch and crossed his arms. “Well?”

“This … copy of yours,” Kougaiji began. “I was wondering where you got it.” The thing was obviously the latest in AI technology. If he could get one for himself, he’d be spared having to attend boring meetings and it’d be useful as a body double …

“That’s classified information,” Jinhai said shortly.

“Did you get it from the temple?” Lirin asked, her thoughts obviously running along the same track as Kougaiji’s. She stood up and approached the copy, leaning in to get a closer look at its blank face.

Jinhai snapped his fingers. The copy suddenly came alive, taking one step back and snapping, “Don’t touch me.”

Lirin laughed. “It’s just as surly as you are!”

“Funny,” Jinhai said. “Now if you don’t have any more questions, please leave.”

Kougaiji stood up as well. “I have a request.” When Jinhai did nothing but look at him, Kougaiji went on. “I want to go with you to the Gobi desert.” He kept talking, ignoring the frown that appeared on Jinhai’s face. “Like I said in the church, I’d like to help you look for the sutras. And I have access to resources that may be of use.”

“The temple provides me with everything that I need.”

“Do they have an extensive info-gathering network at their disposal?” Kougaiji asked, trying not to appear desperate. “Connections with the youkai underworld?” He met Jinhai’s narrowed gaze head-on, waiting for the human’s answer.

Lirin’s laughter as she annoyed the copy was the only sound in the entire room.

Jinhai opened his mouth to speak, and Kougaiji braced himself for the rejection. He was pleasantly surprised when Jinhai said, “Fine. You can come along.”

Kougaiji was about to thank him when Jinhai added, “But if you screw this up for me, it won’t matter if you’re the youkai emperor or not. I’ll exorcise your ass faster than you can say Shangri-la.”

 _He still has it._ Kougaiji felt like laughing. What were the chances that Jinhai would own the Maten Sutra? After all these centuries, it seemed that Sanzo still wouldn’t give up the one material thing that he really treasured.

Kougaiji was tempted to ask about the Seiten Sutra but instead said, “Thank you very much for letting me go with you.”

* * *

“I’m sorry, Jinhai, but there’s a problem with the helicopter we chartered,” the head monk said apologetically.

“It’s okay, sir,” Jinhai said calmly, though he could feel the beginnings of a headache making its presence known. He cut off the head monk’s apologies and said, “Really. It’s fine, sir. I’ll just try to find some other way to get there.”

“Once again, I’m sorry. And good luck.”

“Thank you,” Jinhai answered. He ended the call on his commlink, and sighed in exasperation. It looked like the trip would be delayed unless he could find and charter a copter on short notice. He pulled up a holograph of the yellow pages on his commlink and began scrolling through.

“What’s wrong?” Kougaiji asked.

Jinhai glanced at Kougaiji and tried not to snort derisively. He looked nothing like an emperor; he was decked out in practical camping clothes and carrying a knapsack. If anything, he just looked like a hiker.

They were currently in Jinhai’s apartment—again—Kougaiji having arrived half an hour ago. He stood in the doorway leading into Jinhai’s bedroom. He’d been waiting for him to finish packing when Jinhai’s commlink had rung, informing him of an incoming call from the head monk.

“We’re having trouble with transportation,” Jinhai said shortly.

“Is that all?” Kougaiji pulled out his cell phone—Jinhai briefly wondered why the youkai emperor was still using something so outdated when he could afford something more current—and dialed a number. “Hello? Lakshanya? You’re not going to use the airplane today, are you?” He paused, waiting, then smiled. “How about the helicopter? … Good. I’ll be using them for my trip. Can you have everything prepared? Thanks.” Kougaiji listened to whatever Lakshanya was saying and ended the call with a, “You too. Goodbye.”

Lakshanya again. While Jinhai wasn’t an avid follower of the lives of royalty by any stretch of the imagination, he was smart enough to piece together that Lakshanya was Kougaiji’s wife. The list of people who had access to Kougaiji’s private airplane and helicopter and could also sub for him in important meetings couldn’t be long, and Kougaiji probably didn’t have a goofy smile on his face when he spoke to his second-in-command.

Jinhai told himself he shouldn’t care because he didn’t have a reason _why_ he should care. He straightened up, putting on his knapsack as he did. “Well? You got us a ride, right? Let’s go.”

Kougaiji nodded and made his way out the apartment and onto the street outside. The sleek black hovercar from yesterday was waiting outside for them, and they got into it in silence.


	9. Chapter Eight: Hornet’s Nest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s a busy day in the Gobi desert; sutras are found, nuclear weapons are checked upon, and battle plans are finalized.

Location: Gobi Desert   
Date: 04 Apr 21xx   
Time: 0600

Long looked at the nuke settled in nicely at the back of the cave, a smug smile on his face. A lot of the group’s older members had thought that his plan had been foolish and would bring nothing but more trouble for them. _They were all wrong_ , Long thought gleefully, running a hand across the surface of the nuke, the metal cool to the touch.

Somewhere to his left, Wei was talking to Chua about changing the guards’ shifts, transportation of some firearms, training new recruits. Long might be the leader of the Dragons, but he knew that without Wei, the entire group would probably fall apart in less than a week.

“Boss Guang, we need to go.”

Long looked up from his contemplation of whether or not he should do something nice for Wei as thanks for putting up with him, and frowned. “How many times do I have to tell you?” he asked in exasperation.

Wei patted him on the head. “Long. We need to go.”

“Sure, Wei-ge. Lead the way.”

Location: Gobi Desert   
Date: 04 Apr 21xx   
Time: 2100

Goku lay on his cot, staring up at the night sky through the small hole in his tent’s ceiling. He thought about the sutra that he’d dug up that afternoon, about how the memories that were associated with it had flooded his mind until he was dizzy.

The sutra was locked away with the other excavated artifacts in the storage tent, all the way across camp. Goku debated whether or not to go and sneak in and take one more look at it. There wasn’t really any point in doing so; after all, staring at a sutra wouldn’t accomplish anything except maybe depress him a little.

He rolled over onto his side and tried to go to sleep. The high from unearthing the sutra—from finding something to help him remember Sanzo, Hakkai, Gojyo, and Hakuryuu—was slowly wearing off, but he was still far from sleeping. He could hear his classmate snoring a few feet away from him.

Goku wondered which sutra they’d found and what it could do. He thought about what excuse he’d give Professor Huian tomorrow morning when he’d ask if he could take a look at the sutra. Because, really, it couldn’t hurt to just take a peek at it.

When he finally fell asleep, he dreamed of Sanzo whacking him on the head with the Maten Sutra folded into a fan.

Location: Gobi Desert   
Date: 04 Apr 21xx   
Time: 2300

“When do you leave?” Allen asked, avoiding looking at Rick. He swirled his water around in his cup instead, wishing that he could drink something stronger.

“We plan on attacking the Dragons on the twentieth,” Rick said evenly. After a few moments of silence, he sighed. “Can you please stop sulking, Allen?”

“I just don’t understand why you have to be the one to lead the strike team,” Allen muttered, still refusing to meet Rick’s eyes. “Why can’t someone else lead the team? You can come in with the rest when they finish setting up the traps.”

“They need someone who knows how to disarm the nuke,” Rick explained patiently. “And you know that right now, I’m the only one who can go along with the team. Fred’s still recovering from that gunshot wound.”

In the privacy of his sleeping tent, Allen slumped against Rick, relishing the contact. “The sergeant’s an idiot. I can’t believe he managed to shoot himself in the foot.”

Rick wrapped an arm around Allen’s shoulder. “If I spend the night here, promise to stop whining?”

“That seems like an unfair trade.”

“All’s fair in love and war,” Rick said, laughing.


	10. Chapter Nine: Bacon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinhai’s finally found the sutra he’s been sent to retrieve. The only problem is, he and Kougaiji have to steal it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lure of humanoid!Hakuryuu was too powerful to resist.

Jinhai looked at the helicopter waiting for them. Behind him, Kougaiji was still busy thanking the pilot of his private airplane and asking after the man’s wife and son. Jinhai didn’t know why Kougaiji even bothered; it was the man’s job to fly him around anyway. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Jinhai made his way towards the waiting copter. Maybe if he sat inside and smoked, the emperor would get the hint and hurry up. As he approached, the pilot looked up from where he was fiddling with the controls.

The first thing that Jinhai noticed was how pale the pilot was; his skin was the color of ivory and his short hair was pure white. When the pilot turned his head to look at him, Jinhai saw red eyes that would probably be intimidating if they weren’t widened in shock. “Sanzo?” the pilot asked incredulously.

_Not another one._ Jinhai resisted the urge to go for his gun and instead climbed into his seat and buckled himself in. “Don’t call me that,” he said shortly. “Lemme guess. Another old friend? Were you all buddy-buddy with Sanzo too?”

The pilot snorted in amusement. He twisted around in his seat so he could look at Jinhai. His curiosity made him look much younger. “I was the jeep,” the pilot said. “And if I were ‘buddy-buddy’ with anyone, it probably would’ve been with Hakkai.”

“I see you’ve reacquainted yourself with Hakuryuu.” Kougaiji climbed up into the helicopter as well, settling down in the seat beside Jinhai’s. The emperor glanced at Hakuryuu as he righted himself and started up the copter. “I was expecting you to recognize him. I heard your kind were good at that sort of thing.”

Hakuryuu shrugged. “The aura’s the same,” he said, as if that explained everything.

Jinhai scowled and looked out the window, blocking out the conversation, though he did wonder what Hakuryuu meant when he said he was the jeep.

* * *

Kougaiji rubbed his temples as he looked out at the expanse of sand below them. The sand reflected the glare and heat from the sun, making his head ache, though since it was nearing sunset, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Beside him, Jinhai was in a huff because Hakuryuu had requested that he put out his cigarette. Kougaiji squinted, trying to make out any distinguishing landmarks in the desert below.

“Are we near?” Jinhai asked shortly.

“Just a few more minutes before we reach the coordinates you gave me,” Hakuryuu replied.

A large, rocky shelf came into view as the helicopter passed over a sand dune. “Here we are,” Hakuryuu said cheerfully, slowly bringing down the copter. There was a slight jolt as they landed. The three of them exited the helicopter, and Hakuryuu helped them bring down their gear and equipment.

“Rendezvous is in three days’ time,” Hakuryuu said as he handed Kougaiji his knapsack. “I can pick you up earlier if you’re done, but it’ll take me at least a day to get here after you call.”

“Thanks,” Kougaiji said, shouldering his knapsack. He waved goodbye as Hakuryuu climbed back onto the copter. Turning back to look at the Gobi desert, Kougaiji raised an eyebrow when he saw Jinhai scowling at him. “What?”

“What did you mean by ‘his kind’?” Jinhai asked, jerking his head towards the quickly-receding helicopter. “You said his kind was good at recognizing reincarnations.”

“He’s …” Kougaiji paused, wondering if Jinhai would be able to accept what he was about to say. “Hakuryuu’s a dragon.”

Jinhai stared at him, eyes narrowed slightly, making Kougaiji wonder if Jinhai believed him or not. Eventually Jinhai turned around, pulling a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of his pocket. “Whatever.” He picked up a couple of bags and started making his way down the shelf. Kougaiji grabbed the rest of their things and followed suit.

It didn’t take them long to reach the ground, Kougaiji jumping down from a ledge, throwing up a small cloud of sand as he did. He looked around, trying to find a place where they could settle down for the night. There was a space between a lip of rock and the ground; it looked big enough for Kougaiji and Jinhai to squeeze under for the night, and it offered protection from sandstorms and the sun.

Jinhai was obviously thinking the same thing—he was already unrolling his sleeping bag and unpacking one of his bags, moving his things under the rock overhang. Kougaiji set up his own bedroll and started working on building a campfire. He found the silence between them unnerving, so Kougaiji cleared his throat and began talking. “So, I guess from here we’ll go on foot?”

“About a kilometer north of us,” Jinhai said shortly.

“I guess we’d better turn in early so we can get a head start tomorrow morning.”

The look Jinhai gave him would have made even the largest of Kougaiji’s bodyguards hesitate. As it was, having lived for more than a thousand years and having known Sanzo, Kougaiji just tilted his head inquiringly.

“We eat dinner then head out,” Jinhai snapped. “I want to get this over with and get out of this fucking desert.”

Kougaiji simply nodded. No use getting into an argument at this point, and he had to admit that at least this way, they’d be able to avoid the worst of the heat. As they prepared their food, the sun set and the temperature slowly dropped. Knowing that desert nights were abysmally cold, Kougaiji gathered as much fuel for the campfire as he could for later while Jinhai cleaned up the remains of their meal.

“Ready?” Jinhai asked.

“As I’ll ever be.”

* * *

Great. Just great. Jinhai glared down at the group of tents assembled below them, wondering what he’d done in his past life to make the gods hate him. Beside him, Kougaiji frowned but otherwise remained silent.

It looked like they’d stumbled on a dig of some sort. With his luck, the archaeologists had found the sutra and were keeping it under lock and key.

The back of Jinhai’s neck started to itch. He scratched it, scowl deepening. It was getting colder and sand had gotten into places that he’d prefer to remain sand-free. Jinhai was far from happy. He half-wished Kougaiji would say something just so he could snap at him and vent.

Jinhai was pulled out of his foul mood when Kougaiji suddenly placed a hand on his arm. “I hear people coming this way,” Kougaiji whispered. “We need to move.” He gave Jinhai’s arm a small tug, indicating that he should follow before quickly making his way down the sand dune they were standing on.

Jinhai went after him, irked that he was following Kougaiji. He was used to doing things solo, and having to work with someone else bothered him to no end.

They crouched in the shadow of the nearest tent, and Jinhai couldn’t help but notice the way that Kougaiji’s cat-slit eyes glinted in the moonlight. It made him look feral and dangerous, and Jinhai had to suppress a sudden rush of unease that went through him. He suppressed the urge to move away from Kougaiji—he wasn’t afraid of youkai, and he wasn’t going to start being scared now.

* * *

Goku straightened up from where he was brushing dust off of a bit of vase. He felt as though someone had run a finger up the back of his neck, and he rolled his shoulders in an attempt to get rid of the feeling. It persisted, though, making him restless, and after a few minutes of fidgeting, he put down his brush and stood up.

“My back’s starting to hurt,” Goku said when his classmate looked up at him. “I think I’d better turn in.”

“Good night, then.”

Goku made his way out of the large work tent and back to his own, rubbing the back of his neck. The weird feeling was still there, and it didn’t look like it was going to go away anytime soon. On a whim, he made his way towards the storage tent, getting the urge to check on the sutra they’d dug up.

As he approached the tent, Goku wondered where the guard was. Somebody was usually stationed to watch over the storage tent—the black market trade in artifacts had been booming lately, and a lot of the stuff they’d dug up would probably net a lot of money.

Walking a little faster, Goku practically tripped over a body lying face-down in the sand. He checked for a pulse, calming down slightly when he realized that the guy was just unconscious.

After making sure that the man wasn’t seriously injured, Goku slowly approached the storage tent. As he moved closer, he could hear voices coming from inside it.

“Do you even know what it looks like?”

“Of course I know what it looks like. Shut up and keep searching.”

With every step Goku took towards the tent, the strange feeling at the back of his neck got stronger. While he felt like he’d heard one of the voices before, it was the other voice that intensified the niggling feeling.

Goku took a deep breath. Reaching out, he opened the tent flap. A youkai and a human stood in the middle of the tent. A single lamp stood on the ground between them, barely illuminating the scene, the lamplight dimmed so it wouldn’t be seen from the outside. The faces of the intruders were mostly in shadow, making it hard for Goku to see what they looked like.

“Shit,” the human cursed, taking an involuntary step back.

It was then that Goku caught sight of the sutra in the stranger’s hand. “Hey!” Goku said, stepping forward. “What do you think you’re doing?” The feeling at the back of Goku’s neck became even more insistent. Now that he was closer, the human seemed vaguely familiar. “Give me that!”

The human just snarled and shoved the sutra into his backpack. Goku took another step forward, intent on getting the sutra, but the youkai grabbed hold of his arm. “Jinhai, hurry up and leave,” he said urgently. Outside the tent, Goku could hear voices growing louder, people woken up by the commotion.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Jinhai snapped. “Let go of the brat and let’s go.”

“I’m not a brat!” Goku said automatically. The grip on his arm tightened. Goku knew he could break the youkai’s hold with no problem, but he didn’t want to accidentally hurt him. He glared up at the stranger.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” the youkai said, bending down to speak to Goku. The light from the lamp on the floor illuminated his red hair and triangular earrings, making the markings on his cheek stand out.

Goku froze. “Oh my god—”

“Nobody move!” Goku looked over his shoulder at the tent’s open mouth. A small group of well-armed men stood there, their guns all trained on the two intruders.

Jinhai ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “Ah, fuck.”

* * *

Kougaiji and Jinhai had pretty much given up without a fight once they’d been caught. It made more sense to escape after everything had calmed down rather than fight their way through armed men, especially since they had Kougaiji’s fire magic to rely on anyway. They just had to wait for things to settle back down in the camp before trying anything.

Still, it didn’t make things any more bearable. Kougaiji’s shoulders were starting to ache—he and Jinhai had been tied to a pole driven into the ground, sitting back-to-back on the sand a few feet away from the edge of the campsite. A guard stood nearby, his hand resting lightly on his weapon’s holster. He wasn’t really focused on them, but he glanced at the pair every other minute, never moving from his spot.

Kougaiji's ears caught the sound of someone moving, coming from the shadows cast by the nearest tent. There was a dull thud and their guard crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Jinhai immediately tensed up, and Kougaiji quickly burned away the ropes binding their arms. He and Jinhai stood, the latter moving into a fighting stance.

The shadowy figure of the guard’s attacker stood up as well, stepping into the moonlight. It was the young man who’d walked in on them stealing the sutra. Kougaiji was struck with the same sense of familiarity he’d felt in the storage tent, a feeling that made sense when he saw the diadem he was wearing.

“Son Goku,” he said incredulously.

Goku’s face split into a wide grin. “I _knew_ it was you!” he said, walking closer. “Wasn’t really sure in the tent—hadn’t seen you in centuries—but I was sure when you burned those ropes.”

“Wait,” Jinhai interrupted. “Son Goku? As in the great sage equal to heaven? Are you telling me that this is the legendary Seiten Taisei?” He glared at the newcomer suspiciously.

Something in Jinhai’s tone obviously got on Goku’s nerves, and he glared right back. “Yeah, that’s me. And who’re you?”

“None of your business, monkey.”

Kougaiji had been wondering whether the two of them would recognize each other. It seemed that something in Jinhai did remember Goku, and based on the stricken look on Goku’s face, he’d just realized that it was Sanzo’s reincarnation he was talking to.

“ _Sanzo_ ,” Goku breathed. He practically tackled Jinhai, throwing his arms around his neck and babbling nonstop about how much he’d missed him.

Watching a confused and annoyed Jinhai attempt to fend off the hugs of an elated Goku was admittedly entertaining, but they had to keep quiet and leave as soon as possible. “We need to leave,” Kougaiji said, placing a hand on Goku’s shoulder. “You can continue with your reunion later.”

“Sanzo I can’t believe it’s you!” Goku stopped trying to crawl all over Jinhai, but he kept hold of the human’s sleeve. It was an oddly childish gesture, and Kougaiji was reminded of a much younger Goku and his unswerving loyalty to Sanzo. Some things never really changed, Kougaiji supposed.

* * *

Jinhai wanted to rip his hair out in frustration. Yet another addition to the growing collection of people who’d known his past incarnation. And this was an especially clingy one at that. The legends didn’t say anything about Son Goku being an annoying, touchy-feely brat barely out of college. He scowled and attempted to remove his sleeve from the monkey’s grip, an exercise in futility.

Kougaiji was obviously enjoying himself at Jinhai’s expense, the bastard. Jinhai glared at him, but Kougaiji just ignored him and spoke to Goku. “We need to get the sutra you found. Do you know where they kept it?”

“They put it back in the storage tent, but there are more guards now.” Goku tilted his head in curiosity. “Why do you want it, anyway?”

“We’re not the ones that want it,” Jinhai snarled. “I was _assigned_ to look for the damn thing. His royal highness here just decided to tag along.”

“What d’you mean—”

“We really do have to get moving, you know,” Kougaiji reminded them softly.

Jinhai couldn’t agree more. He was about to start making his way back to the storage tent when the sound of gunshots rang out. Clearly silhouetted by the moonlight, a large group of heavily armed men on horseback crested over the ridge of a nearby dune.

They fanned out, forming a circle around the campsite. Some dismounted and tore down tents, moving quickly and efficiently until they’d gathered all the people in the same area as Kougaiji, Jinhai, and Goku. Even the guards from earlier hadn’t managed to put up a fight, having been caught completely unaware or asleep.

One of the cloaked figures urged his horse forward, towards the group of prisoners. He pulled down his hood, and Jinhai was surprised to see that he was only a teenager. “I’m Guang Long,” he said. “Cooperate, and I won’t shoot you.”


	11. Flashback Sequence Numero Dos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, way back when, Kougaiji was trying to get used to the idea that Goku and Sanzo really were (sort of) in each other’s heads.

Kougaiji wondered if Sanzo knew that he could tell whenever Sanzo ‘listened’ to Goku in his mind. Sanzo would always stop whatever he was doing and frown, hand coming up to rub his temple.

“Can you really hear him talking?”

Sanzo put down the cup of tea he had been drinking and looked at Kougaiji, an eyebrow raised. Kougaiji tried not to feel foolish and crossed his arms. “In your head, I mean. Can you really hear Goku talking?”

“In words? Of course not,” Sanzo said.

“So … you ‘hear’ what he’s feeling?”

Sanzo shrugged.

There was silence for a few moments as Kougaiji digested that bit of information. He was about to ask another question when Sanzo spoke. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous.”

Kougaiji wanted to punch the smug smirk off of Sanzo’s face. “I was just curious,” he growled.

“Whatever makes you feel better.”


	12. Chapter Ten: Quality Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinhai takes a walk down memory lane, Long and Wei talk about what needs to be done, Rick prepares to leave, and Allen pouts.

Yesterday, Long’s informant had told him that the Americans were preparing plans to ambush them in retaliation for the nuke that they’d stolen. Long knew that they didn’t really have a chance to fight against the American military—while they had a large number of men dedicated to their cause, the Americans had far superior firepower and weaponry.

“Long, what do we do now?”

Long looked up at Wei and felt a rush of affection. Wei could have rubbed it in Long’s face that things weren’t going according to plan, could have used the bad news as a starting point for a sermon. But he didn’t. He was getting ready to plot out countermeasures against the inevitable attack instead. “To be honest, Wei-ge, I’m not sure.”

Wei turned to look at the informant. “How big will the team be?”

“It’ll be a small group—no more than ten, probably. The plan is just to go in and render the nuke completely useless.”

“A quick in-and-out, then,” Long said thoughtfully.

Wei placed a hand on his shoulder. “I think I have an idea, boss.”

The idea required hostages, and luckily, Long knew of a dig site that wasn’t too far away.

* * *

“I’m Guang Long. Cooperate, and I won’t shoot you.”

Jinhai froze, eyes focused on the guns aimed at them. Beside him, Goku tensed up as well, and Jinhai prayed that the monkey wouldn’t do anything stupid. While he didn’t doubt that Goku, Kougaiji, and he could take care of themselves, there were too many innocents present. He didn’t want any sort of unnecessary collateral damage.

Another man urged his horse forward and began issuing commands. “Start tying up the hostages. We need to get back to camp by midnight. You three, fan out and see if we missed anyone.”

Kougaiji stepped forward, seeming far too relaxed for someone who had a gun aimed directly between his eyes. “There’s no need to get everyone here involved,” he said calmly, looking directly at the teenager who’d introduced himself as Guang Long. “I believe I have a proposition that you’ll find interesting.”

Guang smirked. “Really? I’m all ears.”

“I’m a very important youkai noble.” Guang snorted in disbelief, and Jinhai barely restrained himself from reacting as well. Youkai noble was an understatement. “If you hold me hostage, I’d fetch a much bigger ransom than all these people combined.”

Goku’s hand tightened around his arm, but Jinhai kept quiet. If Kougaiji wanted to martyr himself, who was he to interfere? He wasn’t Kougaiji’s babysitter, and Kougaiji was perfectly capable of annihilating Guang’s goons in the blink of an eye without even breaking a sweat.

There was a tense silence as Guang mulled over Kougaiji’s proposition. He spoke with the man who’d been giving out orders. Somewhere behind Jinhai, a woman had started sniffling. He heard what sounded like a whispered prayer from a man beside him. Finally, Guang seemed to reach a decision. He nodded at Kougaiji. “I accept your proposal. But I’ll be taking some precautions.” Guang glanced at the man beside him. “Wei-ge.”

Wei unholstered his gun and aimed it directly at Jinhai’s head in one smooth move.

“I’ve heard that high-ranking youkai are capable of doing magic,” Guang said. He smiled slowly. “But I doubt that even you could stop a bullet from killing someone else at point blank range.”

Kougaiji paled. “That’s not the deal.”

“I’ll need some way to keep you in check.” Guang shrugged. “I can’t be too careful.”

“If you’re taking him, then you’re taking me, too!” Goku yelled, his grip growing even tighter on Jinhai’s arm.

Once again, Jinhai wondered what he’d done in a past life to earn such shitty karma.

* * *

The cave was large and looked more like a storage room than a prison area. Guang’s men had blindfolded them on the way to their hideout, and the light from the lanterns placed around the cave, though dim, made Goku’s eyes water after being covered for so long. Across the cave, on the far side, a group of Guang’s men were gathered around a table and playing cards. Guns were propped up against their chairs or slung over their shoulders. From time to time, one of the men glanced over, and Goku got the feeling that they were actually quite aware of their prisoners though they seemed to be engrossed in their game.

Goku, Sanzo, and Kougaiji were seated against the wall of the cave, their arms tied together behind their backs. Beside them was a pile of things Guang and his men had taken from the camp, haphazardly stacked against what looked like the gang’s provisions.

“We could totally bust out of here, you know,” Goku said, eyeing their guards. “Sanzo can totally take care of himself. You don’t have to worry.”

“Keep your voice down, monkey,” Jinhai hissed. “And don’t call me Sanzo.”

Goku resisted the urge to pout. It was annoying that Sanzo still thought of him as a monkey, but at least that meant Sanzo remembered enough about him to call him that.

“I don’t want to risk Jinhai getting hurt,” Kougaiji interjected. “And I’m pretty sure that when it’s late enough, there’ll be fewer guards. We can escape then.”

“Yeah, that worked really well the first time we did it,” Jinhai muttered. “Look where it got us.”

“Man, Sanzo. I can’t believe you’re still so mean to Kougaiji,” Goku said. “I remember you being a lot nicer after the two of you—ow!” Goku looked at Kougaiji in disbelief. Beside him, an equally surprised Jinhai eyed the youkai warily. “Did you just kick me?” Goku asked.

At the card table, one of the men stood up and shouted, “Hey! Keep it down over there!”

There was an awkward moment as Kougaiji refused to make eye contact with either Goku or Jinhai.

Kougaiji’s swift kick confused Goku, and his brow furrowed. When Kougaiji finally returned his stare, Goku almost missed the small shake of his head. Everything clicked into place. “You—”

“Quiet!” Jinhai snapped.

“You haven’t told him?” Goku whispered, disbelief all over his face.

“It doesn’t matter,” Kougaiji replied, his voice even. “There’s no point.”

“What do you mean there’s no point? There is _totally_ a point!”

“Can the two of you shut up?” Jinhai snarled. “Talking about Kougaiji and some past version of me isn’t going to help us get out of here.”

“Jinhai’s right, Goku. We need to get ready to escape.”

Goku opened his mouth to protest—after Gyumao’s defeat, Kougaiji had become as important to Sanzo as Goku, or Hakkai, or Gojyo—but the hard look in Kougaiji’s eyes made him close his mouth.

* * *

His head was hurting. Jinhai closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the sullen throbbing. He wasn’t sure when it had started, but it was steadily getting worse and making it hard for him to concentrate.

_“I thought we’d agreed that you’d stop smoking.”_

Jinhai glanced at Kougaiji with narrowed eyes. The voice had sounded like him, but the youkai hadn’t spoken, hadn’t moved since his cryptic conversation with Goku. Jinhai pressed his forehead against his knees. His head hurt, and now he was starting to hear voices. Great.

_“You’ll kill yourself with those things.”_

“You okay, Sanzo?” Goku asked, scooting closer.

“I’m fine,” he snarled. He ignored the looks Goku and Kougaiji were giving him and concentrated on blocking the voice in his head.

_“Maybe we can find something else to put in your mouth.”_

Jinhai screwed his eyes shut. Kougaiji’s voice had been low and husky and seductive, and it sent a bolt of arousal through him. He didn’t need this right now—they weren’t exactly in a place where he could deal with stupid voices in his head. But what was more disturbing was the stirring of something else, of feelings that he didn’t remember having a few hours ago.

It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in reincarnations, it just pissed him off that people kept treating him like someone he wasn’t. If what he was hearing—and starting to feel—was something from Sanzo’s life, it wasn’t anything that had a place in his. And it also meant that Kougaiji wasn’t just Sanzo’s ‘friend.’

* * *

Rick shouldered his pack and took a deep breath. The rest of the strike team was already making its way towards the jeep, but he’d lagged behind because Allen was still pouting in that admittedly adorable way of his. “I thought you said you’d stop pouting.”

“I never said that,” Allen replied, pouting even more and crossing his arms. “I said I’d stop sulking.”

Rick resisted the urge to give Allen a reassuring hug and instead settled for a pat on the shoulder. “We’ll be back before you know it.” With a last smile and wave, he jogged off to the waiting jeep and climbed on.


	13. Chapter Eleven: Train Wreck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick’s strike team clashes with Long’s men. Jinhai, Goku, and Kougaiji are caught in the middle, and they still have to find the sutra.

Kougaiji ignored the baleful look Goku was giving him and kept his eyes locked on Guang’s men. He thought his heart would stop when Goku almost gave away the secret he’d been keeping from Jinhai. He didn’t think Jinhai would take kindly to the fact that his past life had been Kougaiji’s lover.

When Jinhai had asked, Kougaiji had said that Sanzo was his friend. And that had been true, at least for the first couple of years after Gyokumen Koushou’s defeat.

It had been a complicated relationship. Sanzo probably would have used the term fuck buddy. Kougaiji thought that was too crass—and it had felt like something more than that, at least to him. The quiet afternoons that they spent drinking tea and simply enjoying each other’s company far outnumbered the times that Sanzo had tried to exorcise Kougaiji, or the times that Kougaiji had attempted to set Sanzo’s sutra on fire.

Thinking of how it had been—how _they_ had been—made Kougaiji’s chest ache. He clenched his fist, felt the metal of his wedding ring against his flesh, and ruthlessly suppressed anything he felt for Sanzo. Jinhai was right—he wasn’t Sanzo and it would be disrespectful and stupid to try and use him as a replacement for the monk.

Kougaiji still wanted to help, though.

* * *

Rick set his gun to stun and waited for the rest of his team to fall into position. They had instructions to minimize casualties on both ends and aim for maximum property damage instead. To his right, his second in command finished adjusting his own gun’s settings. “You ready, Oscar?” Rick whispered.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Oscar answered. He glanced at the rest of their team and looked back at Rick. “Some of the younger guys are getting antsy—we’d better get a move on before they decide to go charging in.”

Rick sighed. “Children these days.” He peered over the jutting boulder they were squatting behind. Beneath them, the terrorist camp sprawled across the sands in front of the mouth of a cave. Steep rock walls on either side provided protection and few options for entrance points. The shelf of rock the team was perched on was one of the few vantage points available in the area.

After scanning the area below them, Rick spotted what he was looking for. “Oscar, tell everyone to get ready to fire.”

Rick shot at a group of stainless steel fuel drums. The resulting explosion immediately drew the attention of all the men stationed outside. As they ran towards the fuel, the strike team quickly picked them off, stunning them quickly and efficiently. By the time more people came streaming out of the cave, the only thing they saw were unconscious bodies.

The terrorists fired shots at the spot where Rick’s team had been hiding, but by then, they’d already scattered—half were making their way down while the other half provided distractions by shooting at the terrorists. Bright red arcs of energy hit two of the terrorists, knocking them out.

Rick dove behind a crate, narrowly missing getting hit by a bullet. “How cute—they still use projectile-based weapons,” he chuckled. The soldier beside him shot a look that clearly said he thought Rick was more than a little crazy. “Looks like Oscar’s got everything under control out here. Why don’t we go in?”

* * *

Kougaiji looked up at the sound of a muffled explosion. Beside Kougaiji, Jinhai and Goku had also tensed up.

“It’s the soldiers!” Guang shouted. He gestured sharply at two men. “Stay here and guard the nuke. Everyone else, _move_!”

There was chaos as weapons were grabbed and men ran outside. The two guards left behind grabbed yanked up Jinhai and Goku by their bindings, motioning for Kougaiji to stand as well, and dragged them farther away from the exit.

“Stay here!” one of the men barked.

“I think we should escape now,” Goku said.

Kougaiji nodded. “Agreed.”

Everything was over in less than ten seconds. Kougaiji burned his bindings and knocked out one guard with a punch, while Goku disarmed the other one with a kick, sending his rifle flying. Another kick, this time to the jaw, and the guard fell to the ground.

“That was easier than I expected,” Goku said as Kougaiji freed his and Jinhai’s hands.

“We need to get out of here. _Now._ ” Jinhai bent down and grabbed one of the guards’ guns, checking to see if it had any juice. He snorted in disbelief when he saw that instead of a power cartridge, it had bullets. “Bullets?”

“They _are_ cheaper,” Kougaiji said. “And they get the job done as well.”

The sounds of shots being fired and men shouting grew louder. Jinhai and Goku began going through the looted things from the camp, probably looking for the sutra. Kougaiji busied himself with tying up the unconscious guards and propping them up against the wall.

From what Kougaiji could see, there was only one visible exit, and he wasn’t keen on charging into the middle of what sounded like a raid. Unfortunately, it also didn’t seem like they had much time to try and look for another way out. “I don’t think we can sneak out of here,” Kougaiji said.

Goku grinned and cracked his knuckles. “We can fight our way out, no problem.”

Jinhai straightened up, sutra clutched in his hand. “We’re more likely to get killed, idiot.”

Goku opened his mouth to retort, but before he could say anything, the sounds of the gunfight got even louder and men began pouring into the cave. They were all wearing military uniforms.

Jinhai immediately dropped the gun he’d picked up and raised his hands in the air. “Don’t shoot! We’re hostages!”

* * *

“There we go,” Rick said, standing up and dusting off his hands. “Disarmed and completely harmless.”

Oscar glanced at the three men they’d come across in the large main cave. They were talking to another guy in the unit, explaining how they’d gotten there. “What about them?”

“We’ll have to bring them back to the base, I guess. It’s not like we can leave them here.” Rick sighed. “Though it’d be less trouble if we could.”

He walked over to the hostages, smiling when the one with messy brown hair looked at him. “I’m sure you want to go home right away, but we’ll need to ask you to come with us. We have to ask you some questions about the circumstances of your kidnapping.”

The youkai nodded while the older human with black hair scowled. Rick could sense an impending headache coming on.


	14. Chapter Twelve:  Apples

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It gets worse before it gets better.

“Here you go, princess; some ibuprofen for your headache.”

Jinhai snarled at Allen before grabbing the medicine and dry-swallowing it. “I’m going back to the tent,” he snapped, standing up.

Goku scratched at the back of his head. “Oh … is it okay if I stay here a while?” _“—Gojyo said he’d show me somethin’ cool!”_

“Whatever.” Jinhai opened the flap of the medical tent to step outside, but something in him prompted him to pause and glare at Allen. “Keep your perversions to yourself.”

“What did you say—” _“—you shitty monk?”_

Jinhai left without bothering to answer. He walked quickly, ignoring the soldiers milling around the camp, his eyes squinted against the bright sunlight.

The headaches were getting worse—at first he could still force himself to just ignore them, but it had gotten to the point that he felt like either his head was going to explode or he was going to throw up. But what pissed Jinhai off the most were the voices.

Little snippets of conversation in Kougaiji’s and Goku’s voices that made listening to them difficult. And later on, they were joined by two more voices that sounded vaguely like Rick and Allen, the asshole.

It wasn’t just the voices or headaches that were growing stronger; he kept getting flashes of emotions that weren’t appropriate at all for the situation at hand, or seemingly came out of nowhere. Seeing Allen the first time, he had gotten a strong urge to pull out a gun and shoot at him. He still wanted to shoot the jerk, but at least the feeling was justified by a couple of hours of exposure.

It wasn’t so bad when he was just with Goku, but whatever was going on in his head was at its worst whenever Kougaiji was around. Jinhai wasn’t interested in finding out how it started or why it was happening. He just wanted it to stop.

He stepped inside the small tent he shared with Goku and sat down wearily onto his bedroll. Hakuryuu was arriving sometime tomorrow, and until then, he was planning on spending his time alone.

* * *

“Jinhai? It’s time for dinner.” No answer. Kougaiji stood in front of Jinhai and Goku’s tent and wondered why he even bothered.

He stuck his head inside, wondering if Jinhai was asleep. However, judging from the glare he got, Jinhai was wide awake. “What the fuck do you want?”

“It’s time for dinner.”

Jinhai lay back down on his bedroll. “I’m not hungry.”

Kougaiji squatted down beside him. “Goku’s looking for you.”

“Will you shut up about the stupid monkey?” Jinhai sat up quickly, shoving at Kougaiji’s shoulder.

Kougaiji’s hand automatically came up to grab Jinhai’s wrist. They stared at each other for a few moments, eyes narrowed. For an infinitesimal moment, it was Sanzo’s face that Kougaiji was looking at.

Jinhai yanked his hand back. “Just—can you just leave,” he ground out.

Kougaiji wanted to grab Jinhai and yell at him, ask him why it was so wrong to just give in for once, to not let their duties and responsibilities be first priority, for just a moment. “Can’t we talk about this?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. These aren’t my feelings,” Jinhai hissed. “These aren’t my thoughts or wants or memories. And there’s _no fucking way_ I’m going to let you fool around with _my_ body just because you think I’m some sort of replacement for your Kouryuu!”

Kougaiji tensed at the mention of Sanzo’s first name, the venom in Jinhai’s voice draining away his anger. This wasn’t the person he’d shared a life with—the soul might have been the same, but a completely different set of experiences and memories made up a completely different person. He didn’t have the right to be angry at Jinhai for being pissed off with the way things were going between them.

“I’m sorry.” Kougaiji stood up, looking at Jinhai who was still sitting on the bedroll. “I’ll just tell Goku you’re asleep.”

He left the tent.

* * *

Goku leaned out of the side of the helicopter and yelled, waving energetically. His voice was drowned out by the helicopter’s blades, but Allen could just barely make out the words. “Bye, Tenpou! Kenren!”

Allen looked at Rick, his eyebrow raised. “What did he call us?”

Rick shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“Strange kid.”


	15. Chapter Thirteen: All Good Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinhai doesn’t have too much trouble moving on. Kougaiji wishes he could say the same thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops—my pairings are showing. And with this chapter, this fanfic is finally finished! I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing this ♥

Goku watched Kougaiji and Jinhai ignore one another. They’d just arrived at the airfield and were waiting for a car to come pick them up. Neither of them had spoken during the entire trip back, though Goku had killed time by talking with Hakuryuu. He’d been ecstatic seeing him, especially since the last time he’d seen Hakuryuu was at Hakkai’s funeral.

“Don’t tell me they spent most of the time after I dropped them off ignoring one another.”

Goku glanced at Hakuryuu. He was leaning against the side of the helicopter, one of his eyebrows raised. “Not really,” Goku answered. “Just the part after we were rescued.”

A black hovercar came around from the side of a hangar and made its way across the landing zone. “Ah, finally,” Kougaiji said.

Goku wasn’t sure who to expect—Yaone probably wasn’t around anymore, but he didn’t know who else would come to pick up Kougaiji. He couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him when he saw the occupant of the backseat. “It’s been a long time, brat.”

The smile that made its way across Lirin’s face was absolutely brilliant. “If it isn’t the monkey himself!” She paused, hands on her hips. “You look old.”

“Ha! No older-lookin’ than you!”

They teased each other all the way to Jinhai’s apartment, and Goku could honestly say that he didn’t mind cramming himself into the backseat with everyone else, especially since he was sitting beside Lirin anyway.

The driver stopped in front of Jinhai’s building and Jinhai quickly got out, muttering about damn brats. Goku was about to get down as well, but stopped when Jinhai growled, “Where do you think you’re going?”

“What?” Goku quickly stepped out of the car. “I can’t hang out with you for a couple of days? I haven’t seen you in _forever_!” He ended up slamming the door shut in anger.

Jinhai scowled. “You and his highness over there seem to be sharing the same delusion.”

Goku stared into the eyes that were almost exactly the same as Sanzo’s and sighed. They were _almost_ the same, but they weren’t. He stuck his hands in his pockets and bowed his head. “Sorry. I just … miss him, sometimes. He was the closest thing I ever had to a dad.”

There was another sigh, this time from Jinhai. A hand came to rest on top of Goku’s head, ruffling his hair. “See you around, monkey.”

Goku reached up to grab hold of Jinhai’s hand, squeezing it in between his own as if he could stop this incarnation of Sanzo from slipping away like the original had. He let go after a few seconds and looked up at Jinhai’s face, seeing that the scowl had softened a bit.

The height difference wasn’t as big as before, but he wasn’t sure if it was because he’d grown or if Jinhai was shorter than Sanzo. “See ya.”

He turned around to open the car door and get in. There was a sympathetic look on Lirin’s face, and Kougaiji was pointedly staring straight ahead.

“Thanks for the help,” Jinhai said flatly, looking at a point somewhere on the roof of the hovercar.

Kougaiji nodded, still not quite looking at Jinhai. “What are friends for?”

* * *

Jinhai placed the sutra on the head monk’s table, making sure to avoid eye contact with the younger man.

“Job well done!” the head monk said happily. He paused for a moment and looked up at Jinhai. When he spoke again, his tone was serious. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

“I’m fine, sir.”

“You know I’m not just talking about the physical.”

Jinhai thought about the last few days that had gone by—of how he’d been forced to endure Goku and Lirin bickering and flirting like nobody’s business when they’d arrived at the airfield, of how he had to stop himself from either pulling Kougaiji into a kiss or punching the bastard in the face, of the tests and check-ups he had to go through before he could meet the head monk.

He thought of the voices and feelings slowly fading away as the hours ticked by since he last saw Goku and Kougaiji.

“Don’t worry, sir. I’m fine.”

* * *

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Lakshanya asked softly.

Kougaiji looked at her, his thumb rubbing against the wedding ring on his finger. He thought about the years they’d spent together, their children and their grandchildren, and how happy all of those things made him. “No,” he said. “Not really.”

Lakshanya sighed and pulled Kougaiji close, making him rest his head against her shoulder. “You’re lucky I’m so understanding.”

“You’re right—I _am_ lucky,” he whispered.

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic was initially inspired by the random stuff flying around in the Yuletide Smut Friending Meme way back in 2007. In 2012, I decided that I needed to re-write the earlier chapters because my writing style had dramatically changed. And also because it physically hurt to read some of the older stuff I'd written. It's taken a long time to finish, but this is probably going to be one of my personal favorites for a long time.
> 
> Multiple prompts from multiple LJ/DW communities were used throughout the story. Thanks to Rroselavy for suggesting I put Homura in the fanfic and helping me through a sticky spot in the plot, to Whymzycal for agreeing to beta this akfhskjfhj fanfic (not only the re-write, but also some of the original chapters), and to mls_addxn for giving me random Chinese names when I asked for them. _E=mc 2_ by K.A. Rose played a huge part in bunnying me to write Sanzo/Kougaiji fanfic that involves reincarnation.


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